[Doug G]

Wow, what a thread... Please mods don't close it, yet... There are things said in the thread that more teams should read and think about, which is a good thing. Here are my two comments...

1) Many years ago, I've experienced first hand a team playing very ungraciously during a competition, where an adult coach was telling a driver to purposely tip another robot in order to win the match because it was the only way to win. Sad. Now I know a kid might make the decision in haste, but to hear from an adult in a pre-match planning session was disturbing. I am referring to one of those teams that allegedly conspired against 1114/2056. I wasn't surprised to hear this happen.

2) Jealousy gets the best of all of us, including some CD members. For many of our early years my own team was always jealous of the poofs (254). They had great mentors, sponsors, and always a winning robot. But after getting to know them closer - you begin to get more inspired than jealous. They work really, really hard. My team strives to do more and more each year, partly because we want to compete on the same level as 254. It has become a standard that we try to hold ourselves to and I have a feeling others do as well. The same goes true for 1114/2056. They have risen the bar and all of us with it. Last year I heard from another team's mentor that our team doesn't build or design our robots and that is all mentor driven. I laughed... I kind of take that as a compliment that our team is reaching that higher level.

How do you get to same point as 254/1114/2056 and others? Work really really hard!! It is a good lesson more students need to learn.